Ash Versus Richie: Who Is Truly Better?
by Martial Arts Master
Summary: Ash and company meet up with Richie, and Ash and Richie have a rematch to decide who is TRULY the better trainer. Sorry it took so long to write another fic. Please review!


Ash Versus Richie: Who Is Truly Better?  
by Martial Arts Master  
Pokemon and all related characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., Satoshi Tajiri, and Wizards of the Coast. This fic takes place right after the Stantler episode. Sorry it took so long to write another fanfic, but I've been busier than expected. Now on with the story.  
  
***  
  
Ash and company were walking in a forest. Misty seemed miffed.  
"Ash Ketchum, have you gotten us lost AGAIN?!" Misty shouted.  
Ash shrugged and said, "Don't blame me! Brock's the one with the map!"  
Brock said, "Yeah, well, um..."  
Ash and Misty looked at Brock accusingly. "Fess up Brock! Where is it?" they both asked in unison.  
"Ok, ok, I kinda dropped it back when I saw that pretty girl," Brock admitted, earning a punch in the face by Misty.  
"YOU---" Misty began, but was interrupted by Ash, who said, "Let's just try to find a way out of this forest."  
"For once we agree," Misty agreed.  
The group continued walking through the forest. Suddenly they heard somebody mumbling.  
"What's that?" Ash asked.  
"Beats me," Misty said.  
"Let's go check it out," Brock said.  
The group headed in the direction of the mumbling and came across a trainer looking at a map and mumbling the directions to familiarize himself with them.  
"Excuse me," Ash said, putting a hand on his shoulder. The trainer looked up and into Ash's face, and it was shockingly familiar...  
"RICHIE!!!" Ash exclaimed. Richie seemed to recognize him too.  
"Ash!" Richie shouted. They shook hands.  
"It's great to see you again," Ash said, smiling.  
Richie smiled too, then stopped smiling as he remembered something.  
"What's wrong?" Ash asked.  
"Well..." Richie said, "I just remembered that after I lost to Assunta, I found out your Pikachu and Squirtle were tired out battling Team Rocket before our match."  
"But you won," Ash pointed out.  
"Yeah, but it wasn't a fair fight. You would have won if it wasn't for Team Rocket," Richie replied.  
"Well _I_ think Ash lost because you're much better than Ash will ever be, Richie," Misty said, supporting someone other than Ash as usual. This ticked Ash off.  
"Misty, if you think I'm such a bad trainer, why do you even travel with me?!" Ash shouted.  
"Because you still owe me a bike!" Misty replied.  
Richie was confused and said, "A bike?"  
"Yeah!" Misty exclaimed. "Ash Ketchum, for your information---"  
Brock interrupted by saying, "Stop fighting, you two. Ash, Richie, if you want to know who's better, how about having a battle?"  
Ash and Richie's eyes lit up. "A fair battle should be right up our alley!" they both exclaimed.  
"Hey Ash, how about we do this battle like the Orange Island gym leader Rudy does his battles?" Richie asked.  
"You know about the Orange Islands?" Ash asked, surprised.  
"Yep," Richie replied. "I even went there once, but the gyms were too hard, so I decided to try for the Johto League instead.  
"Ok, let's start the match!" Ash exclaimed. "The three types I pick are Bug, Fire, and Electric!"  
  
Meanwhile, 7 feet away, in the bushes...  
  
Team Rocket was hiding in the bushes.  
"Just LOOK at those two about to tire out their Pokemon in a battle!" Jessie exclaimed with glee.  
"Yes, once they're tired out we can steal them with no resistance!" James exclaimed with equal glee.  
"Will you shut UP, you two?" Meowth shouted. "Let's just watch the battle."  
  
Back with Ash and company...  
  
"The first round in this match is with Bug types!" Brock explained, having decided to be the referee.  
"Ha! I'll show Misty how good I REALLY am!" Ash thought to himself.  
"Happy, my Butterfree should get some good experience with this battle," Richie thought to himself.  
"Come on Ash, you can beat Richie!" Misty shouted, but she didn't really mean it 'cause she didn't think too highly of Ash.  
"Let the battle begin!" Brock said, chopping his hand in a signal to start the battle.  
"I choose you, Heracross!" Ash said, throwing a Poke Ball in which Heracross came out of.  
"Go...Happy!" Richie shouted, throwing a Poke Ball in which Happy, Richie's nickname for his Butterfree, came out.  
"Happy, Tackle attack!" Richie commanded.  
"Heracross, Counter now!" Ash said. Happy tackled Heracross, but Heracross used Counter and dealed double the damage of the Tackle onto Happy, knocking it into a tree. But Happy continued flying.  
"Happy, Psybeam!" Richie ordered.  
Happy fired a beam of psychic energy at Heracross, but Heracross flew out of the way and then straight at Happy.  
"Heracross, now use _your_ Tackle attack!" Ash shouted.  
Heracross sped up and rammed Happy into another tree.  
"Happy, use your Gust attack!" Richie said, no doubt trying to take advantage of the fact that Heracross was a combination Bug and Fighting type, and that BOTH types were weak to flying attacks. Ash realized this too late, and Heracross was blown into the air only to be knocked unconscious upon landing.  
"Oh no, Heracross!" Ash shouted, running to Heracross's side. "You ok?"  
Heracross didn't answer. It couldn't, so Ash recalled it.  
"Richie wins the round!" Brock shouted, raising his left hand in the air. "The next round is with Fire types!" "Zippo, go!" Richie said, sending out Zippo, Richies nickname for his Charmander.  
"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash said, sending out Charizard and surprising the heck out of Richie.  
"CHARIZARD?!" Richie exclaimed. "That thing cost you the match with me last time 'cause it was disobedient!"  
"But now we're a team, right Charizard?" Ash asked his Charizard, who nodded.  
"Well, if you're sure..." Richie said.  
"Of course I'm sure! Charizard, scratch attack!" Ash said.  
Charizard quickly scratched Zippo.  
"Zippo, Flamethrower attack!" Richie shouted.  
"Charizard, fight fire with fire!" Ash said.  
Charizard and Zippo both used their Flamethrower attacks, but Charizard flame tore right through Zippo's flame and engulfed Zippo, but Zippo was hurt that much.  
"Zippo, Slash attack now!" Richie ordered.  
Zippo flipped into the air and tried to slash Charizard in the face, but Charizard, looking bored, simply grabbed Zippo's arm and let Zippo dangle in mid-air.  
"Seismic Toss!" Ash commanded.  
Charizard wound up like a baseball player, Zippo in hand, and then tossed Zippo with such force that it unwittingly knocked a lot of trees over before it came to rest, lying unconscious.  
"Ash wins the round!" Brock said, raising his right hand in the air.  
Both trainers recalled their Pokemon.  
"The next and final round is with Electric types!" Brock declared.  
Ash motioned to Pikachu, and it ran out.  
"Go...Sparky!" Richie said, sending out Sparky, his Pikachu.  
Both trainers decided not to fool around, and each immediately went for his Pokemon's most powerful attack.  
"Thunder attack!" both trainers said.  
Pikachu and Sparky concentrated, and a bolt of lightning hit them. They sent the explosions at each other, accidentally sending Team Rocket "blasting off again". And when the smoke cleared...  
Ash's Pikachu was still standing, but Sparky was unconscious.  
"Ash wins the round and the match!" Brock declared, raising his right hand into the air.  
"Yes! I won!" Ash said, dancing with his Pikachu.  
  
Meanwhile, where Team Rocket landed...  
  
"Aw, MAN!" Jessie pouted. "We were blown away before we could grab their Pokemon."  
"Yeah," James said, looking through binoculars. "And our opportunity's gone, too. Richie just said good-bye to those twerps and left."  
Immediately Jessie and Meowth blamed him as usual and started beating up on him.  
  
The End  
  
***  
  
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com. 


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